Taylor Fritz and Sebastian Korda's withdrawals have weakened the field for next week's ATP 500 tournament at the Vienna Open.
Fritz was set to begin his European indoor hardcourt season in Vienna. Other top players such as Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, and Dominic Thiem, who will make his final professional appearance before retiring, are on the entry list.
The US Open runner-up's last appearance was at the Shanghai Masters. He beat Terence Atmane, Yosuke Watanuki, Holger Rune, and David Goffin to reach the semifinal of the penultimate ATP Masters 1000 event of the season.
Fritz's tournament ended at that stage after he lost to Novak Djokovic for the tenth time in a row. He missed an opportunity to break that streak when the Serbian struggled physically toward the end of the second set.
The American No. 1 was scheduled to return at the Vienna Open next week but has decided to withdraw from the tournament. No official explanation was provided for the move.
It might be due to Fritz feeling burnt out. He spoke at the Shanghai Masters about feeling pretty awful and revealed he had been managing injuries throughout the season despite achieving impressive results.
Fritz did not want to take time off because it would feel like wasted months, but his place at the ATP Finals looking secure might have persuaded him to rest. He is fifth in the race and has a lead of over almost 1,000 points to Alex de Minaur in ninth.
Korda's reason for being unable to compete at the 2024 Vienna Open is obvious. This year's Citi Open champion recently had surgery for a severe right elbow injury.
The 24-year-old sustained the injury during his second-round US Open match against Tomas Machac. Despite completing that contest, Korda has not played at any tournaments since, including missing the entire Asian swing.
Korda announced in an Instagram post that the surgery was a success, and he hoped to be back competing as soon as possible. Unsurprisingly, next week's Vienna Open will come too quickly for him.
It is uncertain whether Korda will be able to return before the end of the season. The American did not give an opinion on that in his announcement, meaning competing at the following week's Paris Masters cannot be ruled out.
Luckily, one of Fritz and Korda's replacements is among the most entertaining players of the last twenty years. Gael Monfils is now on the entry list for the 2024 Vienna Open.
The Frenchman is now 38 years old but remains one of the most watchable players in the sport. Monfils showed his ability by stunning Carlos Alcaraz at the Cincinnati Open, but he correctly predicted that the Spaniard would defeat him in Shanghai.
Marcos Giron is the other replacement for Fritz and Korda. The 31-year-old's most prominent highlight of 2024 so far was winning his maiden ATP title at the final edition of the Newport Open. He also reached the final of the Dallas Open, losing to Tommy Paul.